A newly built and unoccupied 13-story apartment building in Shanghai fell over with no apparent provocation. Miraculously, only one person died in the near-catastrophe.The building fell over in one piece. Footage of the collapse on Hong Kong’s Cable Television showed the structure in a muddy construction site, pilings still visible at its base.
Construction was nearly complete on the luxury high-rise, situated fashionably near the Dianpu River on the outskirts of Shanghai.
No cause of the crash was immediately obvious. Some have speculated that the crash was the result of issues with nearby flood prevention from the Dianpu River.
Other observers claim that the collapse is indicative of widespread use of sub-par building materials and shoddy construction in China, a major concern in the rapidly urbanizing country. Last year, a steel arch on a bridge collapsed and killed seven, and a crane fell and killed five kindergartners.